Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/871

* MANAGUA. 777 MANASSEH. iiada. In 187G it was destroyed by an inundation, but was soon rebuilt. MANAKIN" (OF. mancquin, Fr. mannequin, from ilDutcli inunnekcn, diminutive of tnan, man). The name manakin (or 'manikin') is ap- plied to a large group of small tropical Ameri- can birds difficult to define. In its narrowest sense the term is confined to the few species of the genus Manacus, which are birds with com- paratively dull-colored plumage, but having the feathers of the chin elongated and puffed like a beard. In a broader way the term applies to the whole family Piprida>, while by some writers it is extended to some of the Cotingid.-e. a closely allied famil}'. (A representative form of Pipra is illustrated on the Plate of C'OTiNiiAS, etc. I In such senses, manakins are small, usually bright- ly colored birds with short, square 4ails, and a short, vaulted, broad bill, the upper mandible hooked at the tip and with a notch behind the point. In some species the wings and tail are modified so as to become very ornamental, and these changes are sometimes extraordinary. The sexes are very different in color, the females generally being greenish, while the males are usually glossy black, ornamented with brilliant scarlet, yellow, or blue. In the genus Hetero- pelma, however, both sexes are dull-colored, while in JIachseropterus the general color is bright green with a iiery red crown, and the lower sur- face streaked, brown and white. The latter genus is further remarkable for the peculiar thickening of the tips of the shafts of some of the inner wing feathers, so that they appear as if ending in a pointed claw. In habits the manakins re- semble tits and chickadees, hopping about in the lower imdergrowth and feeding chiefly on in- sects. They are not song birds, however, but are more nearly related to the North American Hyeatchers. They are often seen on the ground, and some species ne.st there. A Brazilian species {Chiroxiphia caudata) is known as 'dansador' on account of a peculiar hal)it when several are together of holding small dancing parties; one individual whistles steadily while the others dance on the twigs around him, until the musi- cian tires, when he exchanges places with one of the dancers. MANAOAG, ma-na'wag. A town of Luzon, Philippines, in the Province of Pangasinfln, about sixteen miles east of Lingayfn ( Jlap : Luzon, D 2). It has good road connection with sta- tions on the JIanila-Dagupiin Railroad. Popula- tion, 17. .500. MANAOS, ma-nii'osh. Capital of the State of Amazonas, Brazil, situated on the eastern bank nf the Rio Negro. 10 miles from its junction with the .Amazon (Map: Brazil, F 4). It is a large and well-built city, lighted by electricity, and has fine parks and public buildings, a lyceum, a school of chemistry, a museum, and a public library. The city has a good harbor to which ocean steam- ers ascend directly from Europe and the United States, and a flourishing trade in the products of the Amazon forests, especially rubber, which it exports in large quantities. The city is con- nected by cable with Para, and it is growing very rapidly, its population in IflOl being esti- mated at lietween .30.000 and .50.000. Manaos originated in a Portuguese fort built here in 1804 as an outpost for the slave trade. It was first called Barra do Rio Negro, and received its present name in 1836, from a neighboring tribe of Indians. It became the capital of the State in 1852. MANAB, ma-niir', Gulf of. The southern and wider part of the channel separating Ceylon from the southern extremity of India. It is nearly 150 miles wide at its broadest part, and narrows northward into Palk Strait, from which it is divided by a chain of islands and a low reef called Adam's Bri<lge. MANASAROWAR, ma-nil'sii-ro-wtir'. A lake, 12 miles wide and 18 miles long, situated north of the Himala3-a Mountains, between the sources of the Indus and the Brahmaputra. Ac- cording to the account in the Hindu Scriptures it was formed when the ocean first fell down from the heavens, and it is one of the most sacred places of pilgrimage, both for the Hindus and for the Tatars. MANAS'SAS, FiKST and Second Battles of. See Bull Run, First and Second Battles of. MANAS'SEH (Heb. Menashsheh, of uncer- tain etymology). According to Gen. xli. 51, the eldest son of Joseph and eponymous ancestor of the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh and Ephraim are thought by critics to represent two off- shoots of a Joseph clan, the parent branch of which (see Joseph) apparently disappeared in Egypt. Of the two, Manasseh was the first to cut loose, and was therefore represented in tradi- tion as the older; but the far more prominent part played in the history of the northern king- dom by Ephraim is reflected in the forty-eighth chapter of Genesis, where .Jacob, in blessing the two, intentionally mentions Ephraim first, al- though the younger. Both Manasseh and Eph- raim are represented as born in Egj'pt and sons of Joseph's Egyptian wife, which (if the tradi- tion rests upon a genuine reminiscence) may be taken as an indication that the extension of the Joseph clan into several branches took place in that country. At the time of the conquest of Canaan, Mana.sseh and Ephraim appear as the most prominent of the tribes that afterwards formed the northern kingdom. The territory oc- cupied by JIanasseh on the west of the .Jordan lay to the north of Ephraim and reached w'est- ward to the sea, including the plain of Sharon (Josh, xvii.), but the tribe continued to grow and a branch settled to the east of the .Jordan, occupying part of Gilead. the rich pasture lands of Bashan and the country extending northward from a point above the River .Jabbok to ilount Hermon (Josh. xiii. 29-31). The heroes Gideon and .Jephthah (Judges vi. 15; xi. 1) belonged to Manasseh, but after the formation of the king- dom Ephraim entirely eclipses ^Manasseh, of which we hear again only at the time of the invasion of Tiglathpileser III. (b.c. 734), who carried off the eastern division of the tribe to Assyria (I. Chron. v. 26). The tribe also suf- fered severely during the various wars with Aram (II. Kings x. 32-33; cf. Amos i. 3). MANASSEH. King of Judah, son of Heze- kiah and father of Anion. He began to reign C.692 B.C., at the age of twelve. His reign is said to have extended over fifty-five years (II. Kings xxi. 1 ; II. Chron. xxxiii. 1 ), but this figure may be somewhat too high, as his death appears to have taken place no later than. B.C. 641. Of the events during his Ions reign we know little.